Page 108 of The Facade

“I figured it would,” I said, my face still burning over talking about this.

“Do you know if Mack is on the same page?” Mom asked. “Because I’ve known that boy since he was eight years old and know exactly how charming he can be. And I also know that his reputation isn’t much better than Ian’s when it comes to girls.”

“I think he is. But even if he didn’t have the same plans for that kind of thing, he wouldn’t pressure me to do anything I didn’t want to do,” I said, remembering how he’d stopped when I’d asked him to last night. “He’s a good guy.”

“I know he is,” Mom said. “I’m just too young to become a grandma, okay?”

“Mom!” I said, having had enough awkward moments to last me a while.

She chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you’re being thoughtful about this.”

“Can I go now?” I asked, ready to hide in my room for a long time so my cheeks could stop burning from embarrassment.

“I guess,” she said. “But no more secrets and sneaking around, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

I got to her door and was just about to open it and leave when she said, “And Cambrielle?”

“Yes?” I turned around, worried she’d changed her mind and that she was going to forbid me from dating Mack.

“I’m going to have to tell your father about all of this.”

“You are?” I asked, imagining how that would go and not liking the images that came to mind. “You’re going to tell him everything?”

“He’s your parent, too, and deserves to know.”

Ugh.

This was going to be so embarrassing.

She continued, “I figured I’d better warn you so you won’t be too surprised when he arranges for security cameras to be installed on your balcony to keep uninvited teenage boys from sneaking over from now on.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit much?” I asked.

Mom shrugged. “You’re his only daughter. You know how protective he is of the ones he loves.”

“I know.” Which was apparently something my brothers had inherited from him, too, given the little show they’d put on in my room a few minutes ago.

But since I really couldn’t do anything about it and I should actually feel pretty lucky this conversation had gone as well as it had, I shrugged and said, “I guess security cameras sound fair enough.” I put my hand on the door handle. “Just tell him to put them on Carter and Nash’s balcony, too. I heard the twins might be moving in with the Aardens next semester, and it’s only fair that Carter and Ava get caught if they try sneaking over to each other’s houses during the night.”

My mom chuckled. “That’s probably a good idea.”

37

Mack

Me:So on a scale of one to ten, how prepared do I need to be for Carter, Nash, and your dad to come after me with pitchforks?

I texted Cambrielle when I’d been home for an hour and still hadn’t heard from her.

Had her parents forbidden her from seeing me again?

Had they told the staff to keep me from stepping foot on their property from now on?

Or had she just not texted me yet because she assumed I was too busy getting a tongue-lashing from my dad for sneaking out in the middle of the night and nearly giving him a heart attack?

Yeah, my dad might have yelled a little when I snuck in the back door. Telling me this wasnotthe time to pull any stunts.

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